You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try
by RedIs4Janto
Summary: Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?
1. All Good Deeds Are Rewarded

**Title: **You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try  
><strong>Rating: <strong>Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s): <strong>Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth, House of the Dead and Miracle Day  
><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>This is basically my fix-it of Miracle Day. I didn't want to completely disregard Children of Earth, so I didn't. Instead I found a new way to bring Ianto back, inserting a bit of my own made up sci-fi.

Chapter 1: All Good Deeds Are Rewarded

The last thing that Ianto saw was Jack's tearstained face, then blackness. And that was all that there was, the blackness. A soul-sucking, infinite blackness that crushed life, and that was where Ianto was stuck. Ianto clenched his fists. Here he was, stuck in the blackness until he died, which was going to be never. What a party. A single tear escaped his eye as he thought of Jack and all that he had lost. He brought up a sleeve quickly to wipe away the tear, which was silly, considering that there was nobody else here. Well, except Serith. Oh, Ianto hoped to God that Serith wouldn't be able to find him in here. He didn't even want to think about the things she was going to do to him if he was found. But, with any luck, she couldn't see a single thing in here either.

As these thoughts crossed Ianto's mind, he felt a sudden presence in his mind.

_Ianto_, a deep, melodic said simply. _Ianto Jones._

_Yes, this is I_, Ianto addressed the voice in his head. _Who are you?_

_My name is of no importance,_ replied the voice.

_Yes,_ Ianto said. _But if we are going to be talking to each other, I really think we should be on a first name basis. If that would be alright._

_You may refer to me as the Protector. This is the closest I have to a name._

Ianto nodded. If that was the closest thing to a name, well, it was better than 'the voice'

_What exactly do you protect?_ asked Ianto.

Once again, the Protector sighed. _You humans and your petty questions. Since you ask I shall answer. I protect the beings here, in the void. The ones that mean no harm. Your universe, particularly one certain timelord, has decided that this void, my void, is a perfect site for all the foul creatures of the universe. What they, your doctor and others, fail to realize is that this 'emptiness' was in fact created with some forms of life, some innocent forms. They lived here in peace, striving to get through life, but when the pestilent ones came, they destroyed them. And so I took the role of the protector. I hide these beings that live in my void and I protect them from the evils of your universe._

Ianto's heart quickened. He clearly was on very thin ice here. He was a being from the other universe, and evil or not he could be considered responsible for some of the monsters sent into here, including seriath.

_Don't worry little human,_ the Protector sounded like he was laughing. _You are not in any danger. You have committed no crime except dying for the cause you love. You fought bravely, twice, and I will not punish you for transgressions committed by others of your universe in here. Many of the dangerous even originated here._

_Really?_ Ianto thought, puzzled.

_Oh, yes,_ replied the voice. _Some time ago I sent a rather nasty race of creatures to your universe. They were altering this reality quite terribly and it was badly damaged. This darkness is the best that I could get it. I believe that your people called these creatures faeries?_

_You sent the faeries to our world?_ Ianto was outraged. _They take innocent children from us, warp the very fabric of time!_

_Hush little one,_ the protector spoke warningly._ I did what was best, just like what your doctor did with your cybermen and daleks. They caused much damage here, but not as much as they could have back in your universe. Likewise goes with the faeries. Our spacial fabric is much more delicate than yours. Their alterations could have proved fatal to every last being living in this place._

_What about Seriath?_ Ianto asked, slightly calmed down by the Protector's explanation.

_Ah, Seriath,_ the Protector sighed. _She was one of my first. My closest. We were even, as you might call it, "friends". Then she wanted to enter your universe and make it ours. I refused, naturally, and she turned on me. I was nearly killed, but managed to subdue her just in time. I had her restrained, in a place between the void and outside universe. She could have easily broken free within these boundaries, but the nearer to the limits we were, the weaker we all were, and so I was able to secure her. That is part of the reason the faeries need your children. The original faeries did not have as extensive power when they were first forced into your universe, and the children became hybrids, with the potential of a full faery, but able to access these powers on earth._

_So, there's a whole world in here,_ thought Ianto. Fascinating.

_I assume many would say so,_ replied the Protector. _But, Ianto Jones, we are not here to discuss my universe, nor yours. We are here to discuss your soul, your essence._

_What about it?_ asked Ianto.

_It cannot stay here forever._ the Protector spoke bluntly.

_Why not?_ asked Ianto, curious.

_It is pure, untouched by this blackness. It radiates around to any predator being within this void._

_Oh, should I be hiding then?_ Ianto was worried. He certainly didn't want his soul to be eaten.

_I am shielding you with darkness Ianto Jones, do not fear. But I cannot do this forever. There may yet be another creature I have to protect and I will leave you Ianto Jones._

_What can I do?_ asked Ianto.

_You shall do nothing,_ responded the voice. _I will try to send you back to earth, but I will not return you to your body._

_Why not?_ asked Ianto.

_Your actual body. Your lifeless, soulless body, is stored in a cryogenic chamber somewhere in Wales, on Earth. Should I send your soul back there, you would have life for a few short minutes before dying of shock, lack of air or the chill. No, you must enter earth through another body and find your own body through there._

_I don't want to possess somebody!_ exclaimed Ianto.

_Do not fear,_ replied the Protector. _I have experience with this. I send my own into your universe constantly, and just like the faeries, they need humans to stay strong. I have them use human hosts whose bodies are still living, however their souls have left. I believe that the term is brain-dead._

_Wait, so you actually have people-beings-from the void using human hosts and acting as what? Scouts?_

_It is true. I need to know what is occurring in your universe to adapt my own._

Ianto sighed. He honestly could not wrap his head around some of the things the Protector was saying.

_So when will you be sending me back?_ asked Ianto.

_Around the time that Jack returns to earth_, replied the Protector.

_Jack left earth?_ exclaimed Ianto. _When?_

_Shortly after the encounter with you in the House of the Dead. He returns approximately a year later. That is when I will be sending you._

_So you can bend time as well?_ asked Ianto, who still could not wrap his head around the fact that Jack had left Earth.

_Of course I can_, the Protector sounded as though he had scoffed. _If those faeries can jump throughout time, what could a year be to me?_

_Naturally,_ Ianto conceded. _So shall we get on with it?_

_Yes, of course, just as soon as Lyma arrives,_ the Protector confirmed.

_Lyma?_ asked Ianto.

_Oh, yes, one of my "scouts." She has been in the void for quite a long time now and jumped at the opportunity to go to earth. It was, by far, her favorite planet in any solar system. Ahh, she is here._

_I don't hear anything_, thought Ianto.

_Only the more powerful beings of the void have the ability to make themselves known to outsiders while in the void. Do not worry, she will be able to trace you once both of you have found suitable hosts. Now, we shall go!_

_Wait, _Ianto said suddenly. _Why? Why do this for me? I'm not part of your universe. You could just let me be destroyed. Why waste your own time to help save me, to give me another chance?_

_Ianto Jones, I know what you did. I know that you died twice protecting the planet that you love, and that both times you left the one you loved behind. This is something you deserve. I give you this as a gift, as a reward for your deeds. Do not waste it._

Ianto felt a sudden tugging, and he was soon flying, or so he felt like he was, through the darkness. That darkness instantly turned to light as he sped, faster than he had ever gone before. Sheer terror and exhilaration filled him as he couldn't move. Suddenly, he was once again plunged into the blackest darkness and then Ianto Jones opened his eyes.

* * *

><p>AN: So, what did you think? Good, bad, do you want more? Please review, favorite, put on story alert, or show just show me that someone appreciates this story. Thanks!


	2. Coming Back

**Title: **You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try  
><strong>Rating: <strong>Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s): <strong>Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth, House of the Dead and Miracle Day, some swearing  
><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>I will probably start uploading every other week, simply because I don't usually have that much time to write.

Chapter 2: Coming Back

A large gasp of air escaped Ianto as he sat bolt upright in the hospital bed. Wait, a hospital bed? Where the hell was he? The last thing he remembered was the Protector, and then-oh. He looked around. 3 nurses and one stunned doctor stared at him. A nurse had frozen with her hand on the switch of what looked like a life-support machine.

"You were brain-dead," managed a brunette nurse.

"I guess I got better," mumbled Ianto, then froze. What the hell? His voice, it was all wrong. It was still Welsh, but it sounded much too young. 17, maybe 18? He looked around and grabbed a metal tray. Looking into his reflection, he stared in shock. A blonde-haired, brown-eyed teen stared back at him, blinking in shock. His hair hung shaggily around his head, like he had not had a good haircut in a long while. He had a thin, narrow nose and rather high cheekbones, which had a few freckles splashed across. His small mouth was dropped open in shock. So this was the new him. He didn't expect it to be so, radical, but then, beggars couldn't be choosers.

"What should we do?" asked the same brunette nurse to the doctor. He sighed.

"I'm guessing we let him go," he said. "He seems fine. We can just attribute it to the miracle. Besides the beds are really filling up. We need anyone who isn't in need of immediate care out."

"If you'll come with me, sir," said a blonde nurse. "I'll take you to checkout, right after we give you your clothes."

A few minutes later, Ianto was staring at a worn hoodie and torn jeans, as well as a pair of dirty converse. Sighing, he motioned to the nurse to give him some privacy and he pulled them on. Well, they had been cleaned by the hospital, so it wasn't altogether too uncomfortable to wear.

He poked his head out to the nurse in the hallway.

"I'm ready," he said.

She smiled. "Alright then, follow me."

"So, umm, is there anyone here for me?" asked Ianto, referring to Lyma. "Anyone asking for me."

"Oh, you don't know," the nurse exclaimed. "Oh, dearie, I'm sorry. You were a John Doe when you came in here and, well, that was several months ago. Nasty accident with a car. You should really watch your way crossing the street. But, well, no, there was nobody here to claim you. I really I am sorry." she looked at him, face full of concern.

"That's quite alright," murmured Ianto. Good. He wouldn't have to worry about this teen's parents or any other family.

They approached the entrance of the hospital.

"Well, here you are, Mr-"

"Jones," replied Ianto. "Steven Jones."

The nurse smiled. "I hope you find your way out there alright. With the miracle and all."

"Yeah, what is this miracle?" asked Ianto, but the nurse was already gone, rushing after some other patient.

Ianto stood uncomfortably shifting in the middle of the hospital. What should he do now? How was Lyma going to find him?

Suddenly, a voice caught his attention.

"You're saying that they are all like this? Every last one?"

Ianto spun around. "Gwen?"

Gwen jumped at the sound of her name. She turned around to find the source of the voice. When she saw the unfamiliar face staring at her, she quickly pulled on a mask of confusion.

"I'm sorry? I don't know a Gwen."

"But you are," insisted Ianto as he inwardly cheered at the sight of a familiar face. Rhys stood beside her, holding a child about a year old, along with PC Andy Davidson."You are Gwen, Gwen Cooper."

A look of fear flashed across her face. Then she turned to Rhys and Andy. "Excuse me for a moment. Go along to dad." When it looked like they were going to argue, she cut them off. "Go!" she exclaimed.

She stalked towards Ianto, grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into an exam room, which happened to be abandoned, locking the door behind her as she slammed Ianto into the wall.

Bringing her head near his ear, Gwen whispered fiercely. "How do you know who I am? Who are you and what do you want? You tell me, or I will shoot you right how."

Ianto felt the metal of a shotgun being shoved into his ribs.

"Look, Gwen, you're not going to believe this, but I might as well tell you. It's me, Ianto."

Gwen's eyes widened, then narrowed. "You sick bastards. You can't just pull something like that on me."

"Gwen, I swear!" exclaimed Ianto.

"Look, what kind of fool do you think I am. You don't even look like Ianto and you come in here, expecting me to believe you. Are you thick or something like that?" her voice cracked as she spoke. "You can't just come in here and make a mockery of my dead friends."

"Gwen please," begged Ianto. "It's really me."

She backed away from him, breathing heavily with her gun firmly pointed at him.

"Prove it." she said. "Say something only Ianto would know."

"You like your coffee with hazelnut cream, but not too much. You said it reminds you of when you were little and your mum used to bring you hazelnut hot chocolate when you were sick in bed."

"I tell all my friends that," responded Gwen. "You could have found that out from anybody."

"When you first found out that you were pregnant, you wanted to name the baby Owen if it was a boy or Eirwen if it was a girl, but Rhys wanted to name it after his grandmother Anwen."

Gwen dropped her mouth open in shock. "I didn't tell that to anyone except Rhys. But, wait, Ianto was there to, in the warehouse. He was tidying up, and I didn't think that he could hear me, but I guess our voices carried." Her voice got very small. "Is that you, Ianto?"

Ianto sighed in relief. "Yeah, it is," he said.

"But, how?" she asked, tears in her eyes as she embraced him in a fierce hug. "And why this body? Why not your own?"

"Umm, well, it's a really long story," Ianto said. "Basically, I have to find my body and then can transfer my 'soul' into it. I'll tell you more later. Right now, don't you need to visit your father? The way you were acting when you saw me tells me that everything isn't alright. Fill me in on that, and on this miracle thing."

Gwen laughed as she unlocked the door. "I guess you'll be finding out about this miracle same time as I will. I've got no idea what's going on either."

She stood in the open doorway. "Come on, Ianto. Meet my daughter."

* * *

><p>Reviews would be greatly appreciated.<p> 


	3. Meet the Family

**Title: **You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try  
><strong>Rating: <strong>Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s): <strong>Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth, House of the Dead and Miracle Day, some swearing  
><strong>Author's Notes: <strong>Sorry it took me so long to upload. Busy life, and I was away from the internet for this past week.

Chapter 3: Meet the Family

"Well, who's that then, Gwen?" Rhys demanded as both Gwen and Ianto entered the hospital room. Andy was also staring at them, a confused look on his face.

"I'll explain later," she muttered to Rhys, but it was too late. Gwen's mother turned around, holding Anwen.

"Yes, Gwen, do please tell," she said as she stared, perplexed, at the blonde boy standing in front of her. With all eyes on him, Ianto ducked his head and blushed. Gwen smiled. There was the Ianto she had known and loved.

"He's just a friend, mam," replied Gwen. "He needed help, so he'll be staying with us."

"He'll be what?" exclaimed Rhys.

"I said I'll explain later," Gwen hissed at him, giving Rhys a pointed look. The Welshman raised his arms in surrender.

"Alright Gwen, we'll have it your way," he said.

"Anyway," Gwen continued. "I'm here to see dad." She sat down at the side of the bed.

"Dad," she said, tentatively.

He turned to look at her. As Ianto looked at him, he could tell that there wasn't much life left in the man. It seemed as if he shouldn't even be alive. Whatever this 'miracle' was, Ianto wasn't sure that it was necessarily good.

"Hello," she quietly said, smiling. As Mr. Cooper mustered up the energy for a reply, Ianto turned away. This was a private moment for the family.

As he turned around, he found himself face to face with Andy Davidson.

"How about we have a little talk, yeah?" asked Andy.

Ianto didn't respond. He felt like he didn't have a choice. Andy gently grabbed him by the arm and guided him into the hallway.

"Look, I don't know who you are or what you want, but I know you're not Gwen's friend. She didn't have any except for those Torchwood people, and they're all gone. I was her only other confidant, and she wouldn't even talk to me, so you best not hurt her, or I swear, mate, I will hunt you to the ends of this earth. Understood?"

Ianto nodded, slightly fearful. He had never viewed Andy as a particularly threatening man, but there was a glint in his eye, something that put a spark of fear into Ianto's heart.

Suddenly, they were both distracted by the sound of Gwen crying. Ianto turned and quickly entered the room again.

"Torchwood is gone. There's no one left on earth. And I'm sorry, because I don't know what to do," Gwen managed to choke out. Ianto gently placed a hand on her shoulder, an action which got a rather dagger-like stare from Rhys and a questioning look from Mrs. Cooper.

Gwen soon said her goodbyes to her mother and father, promising to call when she could, and profusely thanked Andy for all his help. Soon they were in the car, riding back to Gwen's house

"Now, Gwen, will you tell me who the hell this is?" Rhys demanded to know.

Gwen sighed. "You're going to think that I'm crazy."

"Try me," Rhys stated boldly. "Can't be weirder than anything else in Torchwood."

"I'm Ianto," Ianto said.

"Come again?" Rhys cocked his head, as if he couldn't believe what he had heard.

"It's Ianto Jones, from Torchwood," Gwen said.

"Ianto Jones?" Rhys asked. "As in, Jack's Ianto. The Ianto that we all saw die?"

"Yeah, well that turned out to be a little less permanent then I had expected," sighed Ianto.

"But how? And why like this?" asked Rhys incredulously.

"All I know is that some higher power, something called the Protector, had enough power to send me back, or at least my soul. He said that my soul couldn't be placed in my body, something about it being stored in cryo. He said I would instantly die if my soul was placed back there."

"But wait, how do we know it's you?" asked Rhys.

"I'm not an idiot, Rhys," replied Gwen. "I told him to tell me something only Ianto would know. He told me what I had wanted to name the baby. Owen or Eirwen. You remember the only time we discussed it, don't you? We were in the warehouse and Ianto was the only one around. Remember?"

Rhys thought about it. Ianto had been the only one there, though the memory was hazy, from a worse time. "Christ, you're right!" exclaimed Rhys. "Ok, mate, well, it's good to have you back."

"It's good to see you," admitted Ianto. "And I see that Anwen has been growing up."

"Yeah, she's a little beauty, isn't she," Rhys smiled, as he looked at her in the car seat. Anwen gurgled happily at her father's smiling face.

"She's lovely," agreed Ianto. "I'm really glad that you managed to get away from all this."

"Even moved into the bloody countryside to get away from it all," spoked up Gwen.

"I would never figure you one for moving into the countryside," Ianto joked.

"It was necessary," she responded, and that was when Gwen launched into a full scale explanation on what had happened since Ianto's death.

"Jack left about six months after you died," she said, tears filling her eyes. "I couldn't get him to stay, I'm sorry Ianto."

"It's not your fault," he said soothingly. "You know Jack. Once he makes up his mind about something, there's no stopping that man."

"I know," she sniffed. "I mean, after Steven-"

"What about Steven?" Ianto butted in. "What about his grandson?"

"Oh, of course," exclaimed Gwen. "You don't know. You, well, died before it happened. Uh, well, Jack had to kill Steven to make the 456 leave. He redirected the transmission they were giving or something like that. Steven was the only child around and they had no choice. The 456 were going to kill everyone."

"Oh my God," Ianto said. "Jack. Oh, Jack. I'm so sorry," he murmured to himself. He hadn't realized, not in the House of the Dead. No wonder he had wanted to end it all, be sucked into the void. He had lost everything. But he always would, now wouldn't he.

"So, Jack left then," Ianto said. "And, what? Torchwood got disbanded?"

"I mean, you can't very well have a team with one member, and I was pregnant. So yeah, Torchwood was disbanded. And I had to go into hiding. A lot of people blamed Torchwood for Thames House, a lot of families lost loved ones that day."

"God, Gwen, I'm really sorry," said Ianto.

"What have you got to be sorry for? Going and dying on us? Not your fault, now is it?" asked Gwen. "Speaking of this, how did you come to meet the Protector?"

And so Ianto recounted every part of the House of the Dead, up to the destruction of the void. Suddenly, he exclaimed. "Crap!"

"Ianto?" Gwen looked at him.

"The Protector," he hastily explained. "He said that he would send a companion with me, Lyma. He said she could find me by my soul. I think I was supposed to wait for her at the hospital!"

"Well, we can't go back, now can we?" said Gwen. "Anwen has got to be fed at a very specific time, and I don't want to leave the house "

Ianto sighed. "I guess so," he conceded. "Though, while we are on this subject, I've got to ask, do you know where they are keeping my body? I mean, do you have any idea at all?"

"I really wish I knew," Gwen said. "You've got to ask Jack. I know he didn't bury you, but he put you somewhere. They tried to take you, to burn you with the other victims of the 456 but he begged them. You should have seen him. He literally got down on his knees and begged. Christ, Ianto, he was so broken. I hope, for both of your sakes, that this works."

"So do I," said Ianto, as he felt a pang in his heart. "So do I."

They finally reached Gwen's home, which was, in fact, in the middle of no where. Ianto inhaled the fresh air, a change from the Cardiff smog, and smiled like he had never smiled before. It was good to be alive, even if it wasn't his body.

"Come on then," Rhys said, exiting the car door, Anwen in his arms. "Let's give you the grand tour."

They walked throughout the house while Gwen prepared a sort of dinner. They were all exhausted from the day behind them. Ianto smiled at Rhys's excitement at being able to proudly show off the baby's crib, which he had built himself, and the extension he had added on to the back of the house. Afterwards, they sat down to a family dinner, one which was quite delicious.

"I never suspected that you knew how to cook," Ianto joked as he ate the delicious casserole.

"She can't" replied Rhys laughingly. "At least, she couldn't until I taught her."

"Hey!," Gwen exclaimed, punching him playfully in the arm.

"What?" Rhys said. "It's true. You have to admit, those first couple of attempts were pretty awful."

"I was just a beginner!" Gwen protested.

"It really is very good, though," Ianto added.

"Thank you," Gwen said. She added in a stiff, but clearly playful voice, "At least someone appreciates my cooking in this house."

This banter continued on for the rest of dinner before Rhys stretched and spoke.

"Well, I suspect we should be heading to bed," Rhys said, yawning. "We'll fix you a bed in the spare room."

Ianto nodded, though somehow he didn't think that he would be sleeping that night.

He was right. Many hours after Gwen and Rhys had put Anwen to bed, and then gone to bed themselves, Ianto was still awake. His mind was racing as he stood at one of the open windows, gazing into the night sky and contemplating the expanse of it all. The Protector had said something about sending Ianto back to earth around the time Jack would return. Ianto hoped that it would be soon. He may have been happy that Gwen and Rhys had a happy life, but he wanted his too. All that he could think of as he looked outside the window was how his true love was out there, and that he was out there without Ianto.

* * *

><p>Any feedback in form of reviews would be greatly appreciated.<p> 


	4. A Daring Escape

**Title: **You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try  
><strong>Rating: <strong>Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary: <strong>Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s): <strong>Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth, House of the Dead and Miracle Day, some swearing  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I don't own Torchwood, or Miracle Day. That belongs to BBC, Starz and RTD.

Chapter 4: A Daring Escape

The next morning, Gwen entered her kitchen to find Ianto, sitting at her table wide awake it seemed. She nearly went for her gun before she realized that the blonde haired teenager in her kitchen was actually her old colleague.

"Jesus, Ianto, you scared me." she said.

"Still not used to this suit, eh?" he asked. "Coffee," he said, gesturing towards two cups sitting on the table.

"Oh, thank God!" Gwen exclaimed as she eagerly dashed to the table. "I've really missed your stuff, Ianto." She drank the coffee eagerly, then a groan escaped her mouth. "God, that's good."

Rhys walked in. "Gwen, honey, why the hell are you making those noises?"

"Ianto's coffee," she replied, mumbling into the cup.

"I'd rather fancy a cuppa," said Rhys. "Last night tired me out."

"Help yourself," Ianto said, gesturing to the second cup. "Careful, it's hot."

Rhys took the cup and cautiously sipped from it. "Blimey, mate, this is really good! Gwen was right about you. You make a fantastic cup."

"Thank you," Ianto said, blushing slightly. "I try my hardest."

"You know, Ianto," said Gwen as she looked around the kitchen. "This isn't the Hub. You don't work here."

"Yeah, and?" asked Ianto, confused as to what she was trying to say.

"You've cleaned the entire kitchen!" she exclaimed. "I know that I was out of it, but I most certainly did not wash all the dishes and stack them. How the hell did you know where to put them anyway?"

"That's just a secret of mine," said Ianto, smiling. "And as for the dishes, well, I didn't sleep much at all. I was bored."

Smiling, Rhys slapped Ianto on the back. "The stories Gwen told were true. Only someone like you, mate, would choose to pass the time cleaning."

"I hope Gwen didn't portray me as some sort of clean freak," Ianto said.

"God, of course not Ianto." exclaimed Gwen. "I simply said that without you we probably would have drowned in half-eaten boxes of chinese and pizza."

"And I believe her," Rhys added. "I have to thank you from saving my wife from the potential death by moldy takeout. She's quite the lazy housewife herself."

"Rhys!" exclaimed Gwen. She laughed and slapped him playfully on the shoulder.

"Well, it's true, hon," Rhys smiled. "I have to do a majority of the cleaning around here."

"Only because I'm busy taking care of the baby," she replied. "Speaking of, she should be waking up any moment. I'm surprised that she didn't wake up last night."

"She did, actually," admitted Ianto. "I rocked her back to sleep before she could wake you up."

"Since when do you know how to care for children?" asked Gwen.

"I do have a niece and nephew," replied Ianto. "At one point, back when David was still a baby I would care for him on the weekends. You know, so that Rhi and Johnny could have a night out."

"Well, thank you," Gwen said, hugging him. She laughed. "It feels strange talking to you like this. I mean, I know that it's you in there, but I'm talking to this teenager, this kid."

"Imagine what it's like for me," exclaimed Ianto. "I feel like I'm going through puberty all over again."

"Speaking of," said Rhys. "How the hell are we going to find this body of yours? You said yourself, Jack took it someplace else. So Jack's the only person who knows where it is. And Jack's currently on some planet in some other solar system, or so Gwen tells me."

"Yeah," sighed Ianto. "I really don't know what I'm going to do."

As Ianto spoke, he cringed suddenly. A sharp pain had shot through his body, paralyzing him for a second, then he straightened out.

Rhys looked at him in concern. "You alright, mate?" he asked, put a supporting hand on his shoulder.

Ianto waved off his concern. "I'm fine," he said. "Just a bit of pain."

At that moment, Gwen returned from the bedroom, holding Anwen in her arms and cooing at the giggling infant.

Just then, a knock sounded on the door. Gwen stiffened. "Gun," she whispered to Rhys, who ran towards the closet.

Ianto halted. "What?" he whispered.

"Someone's at the door," she replied. "We can't be too careful."

"Ianto?" called a voice through the door. "Ianto Jones?"

"They know me," hissed Ianto. "Whoever they are, they know my name. I'm going to answer the door."

"No, it's dangerous," hissed Gwen back to him as she took the gun from Rhys, who in turn took Anwen from her arms.

Ianto looked at her and simply said. "Cover me." Then he continued to walk towards the door. Gwen reluctantly followed, holding the gun that her husband had just given her.

Approaching the door, Ianto slowly opened it. "Yes, who's there?"

A young woman, of no more than 25, stood, absentmindedly staring at the ocean.

"Excuse me?" asked Ianto. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The woman, a blue-eyed blonde, spoke, without looking at him. "The ocean is beautiful, is it not? The wide, sparkling expanse. You would never think it had an end." Ianto could hear now that this accent was distinctively London, much like Owen's had been, only softer, more gentle.

"Miss, sorry, but it's important," said Ianto. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, of course," said the woman, looking over at Ianto. "My name is Lyma. The Protector sent me to look after you."

Ianto sighed in relief. He signaled to Gwen that it was all good while opening the door further. "Please, come in," he said.

"I'd rather not," she replied. "If it's all the same to you. May we stay out here?"

"Of course," Ianto nodded. From what he had learned from the Protector, Lyma had not seen this world in a long time, and Ianto knew that he hated the void. He couldn't imagine having to live there. Closing the door behind him, Ianto stepped outside. The biting morning air chilled him, but refreshed him at the same time. He had been in the house for so long and it was nice to be able to get out into the fresh air.

"Lyma," Ianto said. "It's so good to see you. But, how did you get here?" Looking around, Ianto could see no signs of a car, or vehicle of transportation of any sort.

"It is good to see you as well," she nodded. "I followed your signal on one of your 'buses' and then I took what you call a bike the rest of the way. I remember a similar contraption when I was last on Earth."

Looking now, Ianto could see the bicycle leaning against the gate. "Ah, I see," he said. There were a million other questions he had, but now was not the time to ask them.

Lyma spoke. "I'm quite happy to see you are alright. If anything had happened to you in that body, well, your soul would have been lost forever."

Ianto gulped. "I didn't know that."

"Well, you wouldn't," she said cheerfully. "The Protector didn't tell you."

"Anything else he didn't tell me?" asked Ianto. He didn't want any more surprises popping up.

"Well, since you ask," replied Lyma. "Your soul does not fit the body you have been deposited into. That body had already lost its occupant, but nevertheless, it is an imperfect fit for you. If you do not find your proper vessel, you will soon find your current body deteriorating, and it will no longer be able to contain your soul. Then, your soul will dissipate. This is why we must find your body as soon as possible."

"How much time do I have?" asked Ianto.

"It depends on how ill-fitting this body's soul cavity is. You will know of the deterioration when the pain starts."

Ianto's eye's widened. "Well, we better find Jack soon."

"You mean-" Lyma trailed off, concern in her eyes.

"the pain has started," Ianto said. "Yeah."

"Oh dear," said Lyma. "You are right. We do not have much time at all."

Suddenly, Ianto was aware of the sound of a car coming up to the house. "Get inside," he whispered urgently to Lyma, as he also guided her with his hands. He beat on the door.

"Gwen, there's someone coming," he whispered urgently when she opened the door.

"Come on then," she grabbed him and Lyma, pulling them into the house.

"Here," she said, pressing a shotgun into his hands, then calling for Rhys to pack a bag for Anwen. "Cover the door," she whispered, while she looked outside the window for a sign of anyone approaching.

As Ianto stood by the door, he felt a dizziness and a great pain shot through his head. Dropping to his knees, Ianto let the gun fall to the floor as he used both hands to grip his head in pain. He heard Gwen yelling for Rhys and the last thing that he saw before he passed out was Lyma kneeling beside him, her deep blue eyes staring at him in concern.

Ianto awoke in his bed, his mouth feeling extremely dry and his head still aching. He attempted to swing his legs over the side of the bed, but as soon as he tried to stand, he nearly fell onto the ground. The only thing that kept him standing was the nearby table he had grabbed for support.

"Crap," he muttered at the sudden realization. His 'soul', essence, spirit, whatever they wanted to call it, was not liking this new home. He needed to find Jack as soon as possible, but Ianto didn't think he would be mobile long enough to do so.

"Ianto, thank goodness you're awake," exclaimed Gwen, entering the room to see him sitting back on the edge of the bed.

"Gwen, what happened?" he asked, a little groggily.

"You passed out!" she exclaimed. "And gave us all a right scare."

"Well, I know that," said Ianto. "What happened with the car?"

"Oh, that," fear flashed across her face. "It was an American C.I.A. agent. A Rex Matheson. Ianto, I don't know how he found us, but I think that it has something to do with Torchwood. He just collapsed and so we tied him up in the bathroom. We're leaving now."

"Wait, what?" asked Ianto. "Just up and leaving?"

"We have to," said Gwen. "He might gave sent for someone. They could be on their way."

"Why are you so afraid?" asked Ianto. "You're not the same, fearless Gwen as before."

"Well, now it's different," Gwen was now almost shouting, and tears were welling up in her eyes. "I have Rhys and Anwen to think of. I have a family. And since Tosh and Owen and you and then finally Jack left, I had no one at my back. I was hardly afraid at Torchwood, but that was because I trusted you all, without question. I knew that you would always have my back, no matter the circumstances. But with you all gone, I just didn't have the faith that I could do it. I couldn't protect my family, not on my own. I'm not strong enough."

"You are so much stronger than you realize," said Ianto. "A lesser person would have crumbled under this pressure. True, you did run, but that was for your family, not for the sake of your own cowardice. You handled this so much better than any of us ever did."

Gwen looked at him. "You think so?"

"I do," Ianto nodded. "Now, what's this that I hear about packing? Anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah, actually," Gwen said. "Help Rhys load the van, will you? Lyma's out there waiting."

"Of course," Ianto attempted to stand up again, and even though he was stable, he still felt weak. Leaning heavily against the table, he looked at Gwen, who was wearing a skeptical expression on her face. "You won't be doing any packing of cars, I assume."

"I guess not," replied Ianto a little sheepishly.

A crashing noise alerted them.

"You can, however, come with me to confront this F.B.I. agent who has just escaped his ropes. Bloody Rhys," Gwen muttered, grabbing the gun she had laid down on the table. Ianto followed her as she exited the hall, and he turned to find Gwen pointing her gun at a gasping, black man, who Ianto assumed to be Rex.

"Don't move," she said, pointing her gun at him. Rhys walked around the hallway, and Gwen immediately turned on him.

"Some much for tying him up," she said.

"I've never tied up a person before," muttered Rhys.

"'Men are good at knots'" Gwen quoted. "How many times have you told me that before?"

"Only Christmas!" exclaimed Rhys.

"Listen," interrupted Rex. "I've had a pole, through my chest. I was dead, then I wasn't. I had to pay for this bridge, and now, I want to know what the hell is going on, alright? Because I was dead, and now I'm not."

As he spoke, Ianto was aware of a noise, very much like a helicopter, and his suspiscions were confirmed as a black, omnious chopper rose up towards the window. Rex kept going. "And if that has anything to do with Torchwood, or you, or anyone then I need to-you know, it would really- if I could just hear myself think!" Rex exclaimed as the whirring of helicopter blades finally got to him. "What the hell is it doing?" Rex asked as he stared in shock.

"It's a tourist thing," Rhys said, though Ianto could tell that he was not convinced. Gwen seemed to voice his thoughts.

"No, I don't think it is," she said, placing a quick kiss on Anwen's forehead.

"I think that now we run!" exclaimed Ianto, as he was the first to notice the gun in hands of a man in the helicopter. As he fired the gun, all Rhys, Gwen, Rex and Ianto dived into the nearest room available. Luckily, Gwen's layout of her house forced the bullet directly outside the window parallel to the one it had been shot through. The house received minimal damage and the missile exploded after crashing through the window.

"Let's go!" yelled Ianto, amid the sounds of blades. He grabbed the extra gun that Gwen had placed by his bedside and ran into the hallway, where Gwen was already advancing on the helicopter, an ear-muffed Anwen in one arm and the other rapidly pulling the trigger of her gun. As the black helicopter pulled away, Gwen, Rhys and Ianto all ran out of the house-well, Ianto stumbled out-with Rex shortly behind them.

They ran quickly through the yard as machine-gun shots peppered the ground around their feet. Somewhere in the chaos, Lyma joined them, for Ianto looked over once and there she was, dodging the bullets just like he was. They finally found shelter behind the car and crouched low, hoping the bullets wouldn't hit them. After a few seconds, Ianto looked up to see the helicopter receding. That was not the first thing that caught his eye, however. The first thing that he had noticed was the lone figure, aiming a sniper rifle at the circling chopper. The flowing coat, confident, tall demeanor. It was finally confirmed for him when the man turned around, face aglow. Ianto's heart leapt in his chest. He was staring at the man that he had always truly loved: the one and only Captain Jack Harkness.

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><p><em>Review, please? I really would appreciate any kind of feedback that you could give me.<em>


	5. Ianto In A Box

**Title:** You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try  
><strong>Rating:<strong> Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s):<strong> Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth, House of the Dead and Miracle Day, some swearing  
><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Sorry it took so long. I actually have a couple of chapters written already, it's just a matter of editing. Speaking of which, if anyone would like to step up as my beta, just comment on this or PM me!  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own this. I think I forgot to mention it in my previous chapter, so here is my "no owning" statement.

Chapter 5: Ianto in a Box

He turned around, that smile on his face. The classic, Captain Jack Harkness smile.

"Can't leave you alone for a minute," he said, holding the gun, in a stance that was oh-so-heroic, and oh-so his lover. Ianto couldn't speak, and he knew that he must have looked like an idiot, standing there, mouth wide open.

In front of him, Rex exclaimed in surprise, with a hint of anger, "It's you!"

_Oh, Jack, what did you do?_ wondered Ianto.

"Never annoy me again," replied Jack, in an irritated voice. "Now get in," he motioned to all of them as the whirring of helicopter blades could be heard approaching.

The next couple of minutes were all a blur to Ianto. Something about a helicopter chasing them? He had Anwen stuffed into his arms, and he held her protectively, while Gwen climbed into the front seat of the jeep to help Rex shoot at the helicopter. Beside him, Lyma sat emotionless, yet occasionally flinching when a gun shot was a little too loud. People were shouting, but Ianto could only make out bits and pieces of the conversation. He could vaguely tell that Jack was arguing with Gwen about something. Oh, the good old days. Suddenly, the vehicle swerved and came to a stop. Ianto looked up and saw Gwen, hefting what looked like a small missile-launcher on her shoulder, aim and take a shot at the helicopter. As the missile collided with its intended target, the helicopter was consumed in flames and began rotating out of control towards them. It barely glided over the top of their heads and crashed into the ground about 100 feet from them, creating a deafening explosion. The acrid smell of burning gas, flesh and metal filled Ianto's nose and he nearly threw up. Jack opened the car door and slowly walked towards the burning remains. Gwen walked up beside them, and from his point of view, Ianto could see them turn towards each other and smile, then Jack laughed.

Rex opened the door and came stumbling out of the car. He pressed a hand to his heart and, breathing heavily, spoke. "I take it you two know each other?"

Gwen looked at him. "Oh, yeah, we go way back." she replied.

A crying interrupted whatever Rex was going to say next. "Oh, Anwen," Gwen exclaimed, rushing over to where Ianto, who had now exited the jeep, was holding her.

Ianto gently handed over the crying infant to Gwen, who along with Rhys, began to attempt to soothe her.

Meanwhile, Ianto stood there, staring at Jack. This was the first time that he really had a chance to let the facts sink in. Jack was back, he had found them. They might have a future together, albeit a short one, but a future nonetheless. Jack caught his stare and returned it with a perplexed look on his own face.

He began to approach Ianto. "Gwen," he said. "Who is this?"

Gwen sighed. "Look, you're going to think that I'm crazy, but hear me out. It's Ianto."

"Ha," Jack let out a strangled laugh, and his pace towards Ianto quickened. "No, really, who is he?"

"It's Ianto," Gwen said, impatiently. "Jack, it's really him."

The look on Jack's face morphed from puzzled to furious. "What have you done to them!" exclaimed Jack, as he all but charged at Ianto, who was honestly getting quite frightened. He had only seen that expression twice before, when he found out about Lisa and when the both of them were in the final standoff with the 456.

"Jack!" cried out Gwen as he pulled out his Webley, presumably loaded, and he grabbed Ianto by one of his arms, restricting his movements.

"Who are you? What do you want?," Jack demanded, staring Ianto right in the face as he held a loaded gun under his chin.

"Jack, relax," Gwen said frantically. "It is Ianto, it really is. Let me explain-"

"I don't care what you say, Gwen," said Jack, cutting her off. "Whoever these people are, they know a lot. They tried to trick you."

"But he knew things only Ianto would know," Gwen protested.

"They're always listening," said Jack. "Always."

"Jack-"

"No, Gwen," Jack interrupted her. "We do this my way."

"Jack, please," Ianto begged, as the man he loved held a gun under his head.

"You're not Ianto, how dare you even pretend," Jack exclaimed, as his eyes glistened with unshed tears. "It was hard enough for me to lose him twice, but now this? How could you dare? How could you be so certain that I would fall for it, when you didn't even look like him? I will make you pay," Jack finished firmly as he cocked the gun.

"It's me," Ianto was nearly sobbing. "It's Ianto."

Jack stared into the brown-eyes of this trickster, this charlatan who was trying to pass himself off as the man that Jack had once loved, and suddenly he saw something. Those brown eyes, they flashed blue, just for an instant. And in that instant, Jack could see all the pain, the insecurity, the fear, and most importantly the love, and that was all Ianto. Slowly, as if in shock, he withdrew the pistol. Ianto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ianto?" Jack asked, voice breaking. Then he asked again, as if he could not believe it. "Ianto?"

"Yes, Jack, it's me."

Jack embraced him, holding him tightly. "God, Ianto, I thought you were really gone. Forever." He pulled away, and now it was clear to see the tears running down his face.

"But how, and why-" he gestured up and down Ianto's current body.

Ianto sighed. And so he explained the Protector once again, having Lyma fill in the blanks where he couldn't explain what had happened. When he finished, Jack had an awed look on his face.

"I never knew anything lived in the void." He turned to Lyma. "You're from there, you say?" he asked curiously. She nodded. "What's it like?"

"Dark," she replied simply. "Very dark. And dead. But the Protector, he keeps us from harm, and we are safe there. We are safe there, though we are not happy."

"I'm sorry," said Jack, simply, then he turned his attention back to Ianto. "So, you're saying that all we need is your body? And you'll be back to your former self?"

"For the most part," nodded Ianto. "Please tell me you kept it, Jack. That it hasn't been rotting in some forgotten coffin."

"Oh, no," said Jack, reassuring Ianto. "Don't worry. Your body is safe and sound."

"Where?" asked Ianto.

"It's actually only an hour from here, if I remember correctly. Do you remember that case we had, the one with the electricity power outs?"

"Miss Carew," Gwen chimed in helpfully.

"Yeah?" asked Ianto.

"Remember the hideaway that we found. The one with all those 'artifacts' as you were so fond of calling them?"

Ianto smiled. "Yeah, I remember that. You hated me referring to them as any sort of antiques because you hated feeling so old."

Jack smiled. "Well, anyway, I had it converted into a sort of second home. After Torchwood 3 was destroyed, I didn't have anywhere to stay, and that was where I stayed for some of the 6 months before leaving earth. Though, my main focus was building a mini replica of the morgue we had back at the Hub. That's where your body is, Ianto. And that's where we are going."

Rex had been watching this whole interchange with a growing sense of confusion. "What's all this talk about transferring souls? Is this some sort of magic or something? What the hell are you dealing with anyway?"

"And you," Jack said, turning around to face the annoyed American. "Don't you know when two people are having a moment? You would do well to develop some social skills. You Americans are so callous."

"Well, you're one to talk," replied Rex, slightly chastised.

"I am happy to say that it is a perfect coincidence that the Boeshane accent happens to be similar to your American one."

"Boeshane-what..?" Rex trailed off. "I need to know what is going on here!" he demanded more forcefully.

"Here's what's going to happen," Jack stated very crisply and eloquently. "You are going to get back into that jeep and shut up, while I drive us to where we need to go."

"Well, I really think that we-" Rex tried to speak.

"No," said Jack. "I don't care. We are going to where I want us to go first and then, maybe, I'll listen to you."

Rex rolled his eyes. "Alright then World War II, don't go getting all worked up for nothing, I'm going." He turned and walked back to the jeep.

"Let's go," said Jack, motioning to the rest of them.

"Hold on a moment!" exclaimed Rhys. "We can't just go running off with you, Jack. We can't just up and leave!"

"Rhys, we have to," insisted Gwen. "You know they are going to send more like that helicopter full of men. Miracle or not, it's not safe for any of us, least of all Anwen."

"She's right," commented Ianto. "It's only logical that you leave as soon as possible. I'm sure whoever sent the chopper has gotten or is about to get word of its failure, and we want to be far away when that happens."

Rhys sighed. "Alright then." He rolled his eyes. "You really are far too calm and logical for your age, Ianto."

"That's what I said to him all the time," Jack smiled, winking at Ianto in a very suggestive manner.

Rex shouted at them from the jeep. "Are you going to be all day? I have got places that I need to go!"

"God, Americans!" exclaimed Gwen as she walked towards the car.

Ianto smiled and nodded in agreement as he too fell in step along side Gwen. As he walked towards the jeep, an intense sense of lethargy began to overcome him. He stumbled once, quickly catching himself, and found a delicate hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Lyma's eyes, full of worry, looking into his own.

"I'm afraid Ianto's soul is reacting very badly indeed," she commented to Jack, who had rushed over the moment he saw Ianto stumble.

"We need to get you back to your body," Jack exclaimed worriedly, and Ianto nodded weakly.

"Jack, I'm-" he looked at his captain's face and slipped into unconsciousness once more.

Rex really didn't understand what was going on. Some prissy version of Tom Hanks had decided to shoot a helicopter down, then he had had a weird reunion with a teenager, while a hot blonde lady had spent half the time staring at the teenager. Then the kid had fainted and now World War II was freaking out over him like he was his lover, which would be really weird considering their age difference. The family with the baby didn't seem at all surprised about it and all in all everything was starting to seem like some sort of science fiction novel. He really wouldn't have been surprised if little green men had started appearing; that is, if he believed in that sort of thing.

"Come on, come on!" Jack beat at the rusty door while simultaneously trying to bear half the load of an unconscious Ianto Jones. Lyma was supporting the other half.

"Dammit," Jack swore. "I had the door programmed into my vortex manipulator back a couple of months ago and it isn't working now." He sighed. "I guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

"Hmm?" Lyma looked at Jack.

"I'm going to put him down," Jack said. "And open the door manually."

"Oh, yes, of course," replied Lyma.

Jack gingerly set Ianto down on the ground, then turned towards the large metal door.

"Alright then, let's open this sucker," he turned to Lyma. "Not my best line, but it's worked on occasion," he said, smiling his Jack Harkness smile.

Jack firmly gripped the door handle, then began to attempt to turn it. He strained, pulling with all his might, until the gears within began to turn and the door began to slowly open. An awful grating noise accompanied the opening, and both Lyma and Jack flinched at the grisly sound. On the ground, Ianto stirred.

"What is that god awful sound?" he moaned.

"Oh, Ianto," Jack crouched down beside him. "Thank goodness you're awake!"

"Only just," mumbled the welshman, almost incoherently.

"Come on, Lyma, help me get him up!" exclaimed Jack, as he assisted Ianto in struggling into an upright position.

"I'm fine," Ianto protested, as he attempted to walk into the underground lair, but his jelly legs seemed to say otherwise.

"That's it," said Jack, who had just managed to catch him as he fell. "I'm not letting go of you."

"Any other time, I would have thought that was sweet, but right now I can't be bothered to care," replied Ianto. A sickly pallor had come over his face, and he doubled over in agony.

"We don't have much time!" exclaimed Lyma. "We must get him back into his body soon."

"Let's go then," Jack commanded, half dragging the faint Ianto into the refurbished underground cave.

"It's back here," he motioned, as they approached what looked like a mini version of the cryogenic vaults at Torchwood.

"Here's your body," Jack said, as he punched in a few buttons on his vortex manipulator and the drawer began to slide out. Ianto was soon looking down at himself, a physical, manifestation of himself, his own body. Vaguely, Ianto registered that the body wasn't wearing any clothes, so it would be a little awkward.

"So, how do we do this?" rasped Ianto.

"Well, you must get in close proximity with your desired body. There must be contact in order for this exchange to occur.

"Jack, get that me on the table, would you?" asked Ianto. He realized how strange that sentence sounded. "You know what I mean." he added hastily.

Jack laughed. "I know exactly what you mean, Ianto." Allowing Ianto to find some support against a nearby operating table, Jack moved from him towards the dead body. He scooped up the prone body of Ianto Jones as he spoke. "Just think, soon you'll be back in your body. What fun-" A loud crash broke his sentence. Jack quickly placed the body and turned around to see Ianto on the ground convulsing in pain.

"Ianto!" exclaimed Jack, getting down on his knees. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"My stomach," Ianto gasped. "My head, my heart. I feel like I'm on fire."

Lyma looked down at him. "We need to get him into his real body, and quickly. The body is going through the effects of soul rejection faster than I anticipated."

"Well, what do I need to do!" yelled a panicked Jack. He couldn't lose Ianto now, not when they were so close to being together again.

"You must finish what you were doing before. Take his original body and place it on the table. I will lie his temporary body beside it."

Jack rushed back to the drawer, quickly picking up Ianto's body, while making sure not to bruise or damage it in any way. When he turned around, he saw Lyma straightening Ianto's convulsing teenage body. Jack placed the cold, inert body beside him. The close proximity to the dead Welshman stilled the host body. Ianto lay on the table, breathing heavily, and in pain.

"Ianto," whispered Lyma. "I know that you feel it. You feel the pull, the connection. You must allow yourself to be pulled towards it. Let go, completely."

Ianto whimpered. "I don't feel anything. No connection."

Lyma muttered. "No, no this is not good. I should have realized."

"What is it?" asked Jack fearfully.

"There is no life on this planet." replied Lyma. "People cannot die, but they are not alive either. The spark, it is great enough to keep him alive, but not great enough to jump start his body. He needs a life connection. Some sort of bridge."

"I can die," Jack exclaimed. "I have that spark of life!"

Lyma's eyes lit up. "Yes, of course!"

"What do I have to do?" asked Jack.

"You must somehow transfers Ianto's energy to his other body"

"Would a kiss do?"

"I suppose," replied Lyma.

Jack leaned in very close to Ianto. "Ianto listen to me. I'm going to kiss you. You have to follow my kiss. Come towards it. Come towards the life. And then I'll give you back to your body."

Ianto nodded slightly, as he cringed in pain.

Jack leaned in to the blond teen, his lips gently touching the others. A pure gold essence began to seep from the mouth of the nearly unconscious Ianto. Jack felt a huge warmth fill inside of him. It felt as though he would burst.

"Go, Jack, you must do this quickly," Lyma urged. "Before he latches on to you."

Jack quickly moved towards the cold, dead body of Ianto Jones. He gently pressed his lips to the cold ones, like he had, once before. Please, he thought. Go, Ianto, go. He held his lips for what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a few seconds. He could feel the enormous warmth leaving his body and flowing into the real Ianto Jones.

Ianto shot his eyes open. "Jack?" he asked, gazing into the captain's eyes, which stared deeply into his own. Then, as quickly as his eyes had opened, they fell shut again, and Ianto convulsed, his back arching, once. Then, he was completely still.

* * *

><p><em>AN Once again, sorry for the wait. I will try to get the next one up sooner. And please review._


	6. Resurrection

**Title:** You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try  
><strong>Rating:<strong> Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s):<strong> Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth, The Devil and Miss Carew, House of the Dead and Miracle Day, some swearing  
><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Sorry I'm taking so long to update. I have finals coming, and so after this week, the updates should be back on schedule. I also have a couple of chapters written already, it's just a matter of editing. Speaking of which, if anyone would like to step up as my beta, just comment on this or PM me!  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own this. It belongs to BBC, Starz and whomever owns it right now.

Chapter 6: Resurrection

"Oh, God, Ianto!" Jack exclaimed. "Ianto?" He shook the Welshman's body softly, then looked at Lyma.

"What happened? Why isn't he awake?" Jack looked back and forth between the unconscious body of Ianto Jones and his previous host. "I don't understand. Did I do something wrong?"

"You did everything well, what is happening does no longer concern you." replied Lyma, who was now crouching close to Ianto. "He was so weak when transferring into this body that his soul didn't have enough spark to jump start his earthly bodily processes. He is in there, but he is- how would you say? -trapped."

"Well, what can I do?" Jack insisted.

"It is not a question of what you can do, but what I can do." replied Lyma in a simple, matter-of-fact tone. She walked over to Ianto, who was lying prone on the table, and bent over so that her nose was nearly touching his.

"What are you doing?" asked Jack.

She ignored Jack and simply closed her eyes. Inhaling a single, deep breath, Lyma glowed for a second before she exhaled her breath into the mouth of Ianto Jones.

Lyma stood upright after this, then, after a second, leaned on the nearby table for support.

"What did you do to him?" asked Jack, worriedly, as he hastened over to check on the state of his unconscious lover.

"I simply provided with enough spark to restart his major organ functions, his heart and lungs for instance. He should be conscious within the next few seconds."

True to her word, within seconds, Ianto began to cough. The sudden noise and movement startled Jack, but he was soon fussing over Ianto.

"Ianto?" he asked worriedly. "Ianto, can you hear me? Are you alright, Ianto?"

Ianto groaned. "Ah, Jack, I can hear you. Turn down the volume a little bit, will you?"

"Oh, sorry," Jack whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been dragged to hell and back," Ianto sighed, as he sat slowly up on the metal table. "Which isn't entirely inaccurate."

"Your soul is worn from the out of body experience that it has been put through," Lyma spoke. "You should be feeling perfectly normal once your body has had a chance to recover."

"How long will that be?" asked Ianto. He did not want to feel this miserable for the next couple of days.

"It depends." Lyma answered as vaguely as she had to previous questions. "Some take longer to acclimate to their own bodies than others."

Ianto sighed. "Help me up, Jack," he said, as he motioned with his hands for assistance. When he did not hear a response, he turned his head towards the immortal captain. "Jack?" he asked.

Jack blinked once, then shook his head, as if coming out of a daze.

"Help move you, right," he said, immediately stepping towards Ianto to give him a hand. Then he paused. "Wait, are you sure that you should be standing in your condition? Maybe I should just carry you."

"Just get me off this cold table, Jack," Ianto sounded exasperated. "And, no, you can't carry me. I am not an infant."

Jack pouted. "Don't I ever get to be the prince charming?"

Ianto looked at Jack, amusement in his eyes. "I think you got to be that when you woke me from my slumber with a kiss."

Jack sighed. "I guess that counts." he paused, as a smile came on his face. "Speaking of kisses-" without warning, Jack leaned close to Ianto's face, and delicately kissed his lips as he took hold of one of his hands. He pulled away and saw that Ianto wore a dazed, smiling expression on his face.

"What was that for?" asked Ianto, curiously.

"The first official kiss between us since you came back to life. The first time didn't count because you were still technically dead when I kissed you."

Ianto smiled. "Well, let's not stop at the first kiss then. I'm sure there are a couple more where that came from." With that, he grabbed Jack by the front of his shirt and pulled himself up to his feet and in for another longer, more intense kiss. Ianto slowly melted into Jack's arms, and this kiss seemed to go on forever. Finally, when Ianto needed to breathe, he pulled his mouth away from Jack's, but discovered that he could not do the same with the rest of his body. Jack had him in a firm grip. He found his head pressed against Jack's shoulder, and after a few seconds he could feel the wetness hitting his scalp. Finally, managing to partially disengage himself from Jack's grasp, Ianto looked up at the man he loved. He was surprised to find tears streaking the captain's cheeks.

"Jack, what is it?" asked Ianto. "What's wrong?"

Jack looked at the Welshman fondly. "There's absolutely nothing wrong," he said, choking on his words. "I have the man that I love back from the dead and I've been given a second chance. Everything is perfect right now."

"Wait," Ianto paused. "You just said that you loved me."

Jack smiled. "Of course I did. I love you, Jones, Ianto, Jones. How could I not?"

"You never said it once when we were together," murmured Ianto, averting his eyes.

"Ianto? Ianto!" Jack demanded forcefully. "Look at me right now." When Ianto's eyes met his, Jack looked at him, clearly full of remorse, and he spoke.

"Back before the 456, before you died, I was a coward. I didn't want to admit my feelings to you because I didn't want to admit the feelings to myself. I knew that if I did, then losing you would hurt." At his next words, Jack laughed bitterly. "Turns out that not saying them out loud didn't really change how much my heart broke when you died."

"But what changed?" asked Ianto. He genuinely wanted to know.

"Well, I'm mortal for one," Jack laughed.

"What?" Ianto exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah," admitted Jack. "The Miracle affected me in reverse. Everybody can't die, I on the other hand, get injured and heal at the rate of what used to be a normal human."

"What about me?" asked Ianto curiously. "I mean, my body was dead when the Miracle first happened, so, what? Am I undead too?"

"I don't, let's ask-" Jack turned around, expecting the ever omnipresent 'spirit-guide' to be standing and waiting, but he saw nothing.

"Where's Lyma?" asked Jack, turning back to Ianto.

"You look at me like I have a clue," replied the confused Welshman.

"Lyma!" Jack called out once. His voice echoed through the underground rooms. When nobody answered, he sighed. "Well, I guess that's that. She helped you get better and left. Come on, let's not keep the others waiting." He extended his arm for support, and Ianto slowly slid off the metal table. His legs sagged when he contacted the floor, but the steady grip on Jack's arm ensured that he would not fall over.

With Jack's help, Ianto managed to slowly make his way back up to the surface. As they exited the underground chamber, Gwen saw them approaching. A huge smile broke out across her face as she saw a weakened Ianto leaning against Jack. She ran up to both the men and firmly embraced Ianto, who smiled weakly at this gesture. Rhys looked at all of them in shock. It was a little different when he saw Ianto back from the dead in his real body, considering that he looked exactly the same as the day he died.

Rex was completely confused about what had just happened. All he knew was that a half unconscious blonde kid had been carried in and now there was some half-dead looking brown haired man who had come out in his place. These people were in some really weird shit.

Jack was doing all that he could not to collapse and to hold Ianto up. He was overjoyed beyond words to have his lover back, but he was in so much shock from it. He really couldn't believe that he had Ianto back. He had spent the last year and a half trying to get over the death of Ianto Jones and now he was back again. Jack didn't know if his heart could take it anymore. But he was going to be damned if he let anything happens to Jones Ianto Jones as long as he was alive.

"How are you feeling?" a voice came from behind the two men. They turned around and saw Lyma standing behind them, smiling.

"I though you left," said Ianto, surprised but pleased. "I didn't get to thank you."

Lyma smiled. "There is no need to thank me. I simply did as I was ordered, get your soul reunited properly with your body. And I will not be going anywhere soon. That transference of energy took the spark that I need to leave this body and return to the void. I need to recuperate here and gain my energy back."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Ianto. "I'm sorry I caused this."

"Do not apologize," replied Lyma. "I have longed to see your earth for many years."

"Well, rest assured that we will provide you with what we can." said Gwen. "I'm just happy we have our Ianto back."

"Look," called Rex from the jeep. "I'm touched and all by this weird reunion but we really should be going. Let's not be sitting ducks in the countryside and get into the city."

Jack rolled his eyes. "You heard CIA, let's go." Then he smiled. "And I know exactly where."

* * *

><p><em>Review?<em>


	7. Rendition

**Title:** You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try  
><strong>Rating:<strong> Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s):<strong> Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth, The Devil and Miss Carew, House of the Dead and Miracle Day, some swearing  
><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Thanks, DaletheChu, for beta-ing this! You're awesome. And sorry for the shortness. Just wanted to get through the first episode.  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own this. It belongs to BBC, Starz and whomever owns it right now.

Chapter 7: Rendition

Gwen smiled as she looked around the plaza. It felt like years since she had stood here. They had rebuilt it, no doubt filling in the underground Torchwood base. She saw Ianto standing on the steps, a vacant look in his eyes, and she tentatively approached him.

"Ianto?" asked Gwen. When he didn't reply, she tried again, a little more forcefully. "Ianto!"

"Ah, yes, sorry. What?" he asked looking at Gwen with slightly cloudy eyes.

"You alright then?" she asked. "I know it can be a lot to take in."

"Oh, I'm fine," Ianto reassured her. "It's just that the plass - it's rebuilt. Last time I saw it, it was complete rubble, and that only seems like a few days ago." Suddenly, head in hands, Ianto sunk to the steps on the plaza.

"Ianto?" Gwen asked worriedly. "Is everything ok. Are you hurting?"

"I've been gone for a year," Ianto groaned into his hands. "A whole year."

Gwen sat down next to him, unsure of what to say. "Umm, yes you have?" she said tentatively.

"No, you don't understand," Ianto sighed. "It's like I was never even gone. Everything's the same."

Gwen laughed. "Well, what did you expect, flying cars?" she said. "It's only been a year. The world hasn't changed that much. Well-" she amended. "except for the Miracle."

"Oh, yeah, that." Ianto sighed once more. "I suppose Torchwood has to come in once again and save the day."

Gwen's face lit up. "Yeah! It'll be just like old times. The three of us fighting and defeating alien threats wherever we go! Be it in a submarine, or the tunnels under Cardiff."

"Oh," added Ianto, smiling. "Don't forget the other dimension in the old department store."

"Ugghh," Gwen groaned. "Don't remind me. Rhys complained about those perfumes for weeks. I actually had to burn some of the clothes when the perfume didn't come out after five washes."

"Did you really now?" asked Ianto, laughing even harder. "Ow!" he suddenly stopped laughing, and grabbed his side.

"Ianto?" asked Gwen worriedly. "Are you ok?"

Ianto was now breathing heavily. "It's ok. Just a little cramp."

At that moment, Jack turned and saw Ianto clutching his side. In panic, the captain all but ran over to his lover.

"Ianto, Ianto?" asked Jack. "Are you alright? Where does it hurt? What's wrong?"

"Jack, I'm fine," growled Ianto from between clenched teeth. "Just a little readjusting of the soul going on, I'm assuming. Lyma?"

"What did you want?" asked Lyma, as she quickly, but gracefully, made her way over to Ianto.

"This pain," Ianto said. "It's normal, right?"

Lyma nodded. "Oh, yes, of course. Your soul is readjusting to your real body. The effects should be gone within the day."

Ianto smiled smugly at Jack. "See. Nothing to worry about. So what are we gonna do about this Miracle phenomenon anyway?"

By this time, Rex and Rhys had found their way over to the three members of Torchwood.

"Well, one thing's for sure," said Rhys. "You're staying out of it Gwen."

"What do you mean?" asked Gwen, irritated. "I have to go."

"Of course you do," sighed Rhys. "I said it, didn't I," he spoke to Anwen, whom he was carrying in his arms. "First sign of trouble and you'll go running off with Captain Jack Harkness."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? They've rebuilt the water tower, just look," she gestured towards the water tower, which had indeed been reconstructed, "and we're gonna rebuild Torchwood, isn't that right, Jack and Ianto?"

She looked at Jack, who was staring off into the distance and clearly not paying attention.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "That's great. You don't even pay attention to me."

Jack looked at her suddenly, face completely serious. "I cut my arm."

"Ok," Gwen sounded exasperated, which Ianto could totally understand. Jack seemed pretty self-absorbed at the moment. "I can't help but think that there are more important things to worry about."

Ianto turned to Gwen. "I don't think you understand," he said. Then he worriedly turned to Jack, his eyes quickly scanning the captain's body for any other possible injuries.

"No, you don't understand," Jack replied. "I cut my arm," he said forcefully, and pulling down his sleeve, he showed his arm, with had a red scratch mark on it. "Look. It's not healing."

Jack nodded to confirm. "I'm staying hurt."

"Oh God," Gwen said as she realized the implications of the statement.

Rhys scoffed. "Oy, Captain, I didn't take you for a baby. It's just a cut."

"It's not just a cut," Gwen said. "Because it's Jack. Don't you see? The whole world becomes immortal-"

And Jack's mortal, Ianto thought at the same time as Jack said "and I'm mortal."

"I don't mend. I'm normal again. Plain old human."

Those words really hit Ianto hard. He hadn't really processed the news back at when he first revived. He had been so exhausted, overwhelmed and overjoyed at having Jack back and both of them had forgotten about that comment that Jack had made. The possibilities for this situation flashed through Ianto's mind. Maybe Jack and him could live out the rest of their days together? But what if Jack didn't want to? What if he had only stayed with Ianto because he was the only one who could accept Jack's immortality? Being mortal meant that Jack could have a relationship with anyone and not have to worry about outliving them, staying young forever while they aged.

"Doesn't concern you!" Jack's voice snapped Ianto out of his short daze.

Rex just shook his head. "You folks are in some crazy shit, you know that?"

No, we didn't, thought Ianto sarcastically. We spent half of our lives chasing aliens, all the while thinking it was perfectly normal. Honestly. Americans.

"You should get that seen to," Gwen gestured towards his chest, which Rex was clutching.

Rex smiled. "Any minute now. Here's my ride."

As Rex spoke, police cars raced around the water tower, surrounding the plaza where the members of Torchwood were.

Jack raced off the top of the steps towards the jeep, with Gwen, Rhys, then finally Ianto and Lyma following him; however, they hadn't gotten more than a couple of feet before the police cars cut them off in front as well. Jack halted, as did the rest of them. Police men poured out of the cars and surrounded the five, guns drawn. Ianto froze. This was not the way he wanted to die.

Ianto turned around, and his mouth dropped open in shock, then he closed it in indignation. Andy Davidson was standing on the steps to the plass.

"You can't do this, Andy," said Gwen, warningly, with a hint of pleading."

"Sorry, Gwen, orders from above," he said regretfully. "And he's in charge," Andy indicated to the bleeding C.I.A. man standing at his side.

Jack scoffed. "Since when?"

"He can't arrest us!" Rhys cried out indignantly.

"I hate to bust up your sweet little tea party, but this isn't an arrest. It's a rendition. On behalf of the C.I.A., under the 456 amendments to the U.S. Code Section 3184, I'm extraditing this so-called Torchwood team to the United States." He turned to the police. "Now get me outta here. Take me home!"

* * *

><p><em>So, what did ya think? Stay tuned for more.<em>


	8. Look Out America, Here Comes Torchwood!

**Title:** You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try  
><strong>Rating:<strong> Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s):<strong> Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth and Miracle Day, some swearing  
><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Once again, thank you DaletheChu for helping me beta this chapter. Much appreciation goes out to you.  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own this. Trust me, if I did, a lot of things would not have happened.

Chapter 8-Look Out America, Here Comes Torchwood!

Ianto sighed as he tried to get in a better position in the backseat of the SUV. The car really wasn't meant to hold three in the back, but Jack had insisted on staying with Ianto, and Ianto didn't want to abandon Lyma. Thank god Rex was in the other SUV, or Ianto would have given him an earful. Though he was sure that the bloody arrogant American was getting told off by Gwen at this very moment.

Ianto happily lowered his head onto the captain's shoulder. It felt really nice to be able to get some close physical contact with Jack, even if it was after they were all but arrested by the CIA.

"Sorry," Jack whispered to Ianto. "I wanted our first night together to be special."

"It's ok," soothed Ianto. "It wasn't your fault. Besides-" he added. "I'm sure that you'll make it up to me later."

Jack smiled. "I'm sure that I will."

A sudden blast of cold night air greeted them, a nice change from the stuffy SUV they had been sitting in for the past thirty minutes. Both doors had opened, with a suited government agent sliding into the driver's side, while a Cardiff officer slid into the other.

"It's about bloody time," muttered Ianto. "You lot take ages. How many forms did you have to sign?"

"Now look, Ianto," sighed Andy Davidson. "I'm sorry about this-" he trailed off in mid-sentence.  
>"Ianto?" he exclaimed. "But-but you're dead!"<p>

"Wrong tense," sighed Ianto. "I was dead."

"But-but how?" asked the inquisitive police officer.

"Miracle Day effect," lied Ianto. "Must have to do with it. No idea how I got like this. Alive and everything."

"Sure," Andy looked at him skeptically. "Anyway," he said. "It's great to have you back, mate. God knows we need more of you Torchwood. This is definitely a job for you guys."

"Is that why you got us arrested?" interjected Jack. He had never like Andy. Jack always thought he was pushing too hard to get into Torchwood. He was like an annoying fly that wouldn't buzz off no matter how many times you shooed it away.

"Look, mate, I'm sorry about that," apologized Andy. "And it's not an arrest. It's a rendition. They're taking you to America so that you can help out with this whole Miracle thingy. It's definitely something to do with one of your spooky do's."

"Then why the cuffs?" asked Ianto, holding up his restrained hands as an example.

"Well, knowing Harkness, it's so you wouldn't try any tricky business in the backseat." Andy tried to joke.

Ianto looked at him, unamused.

"Sorry, sorry," he muttered. "I don't make the rules here. Agent Matheson wanted the cuffs, he got them. He's in charge."

"Still can't believe it," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, do they let anyone join the CIA these days? Back when I worked with them, you had to actually have brains to get in. It seems like they'll let in anyone who shows enough brute."

Ianto nodded in agreement.

"Look," said Andy. "I just follow orders. And we really better get going," he turned to the man in the driver's seat and nodded. The driver turned the ignition and the car lurched forward. "Now no more talking from the two of you," ordered Andy. "And don't get too cozy. There are others in the car." He looked at them pointedly, making his meaning clear.

Jack rolled his eyes. "As if I would try anything in front of you. At least not without a large dose of retcon at hand."

"Retcon?" Andy's eyes widened. "That's the stuff you give to people to make them forget? What've you done to me? And when?" his voice started to sound panicked.

"Jack, don't play with him like that," said Ianto. "You know very well we've never given him retcon."

"Yes, but I like to scare him. Why do you ruin all the fun?" Jack pouted.

Andy rolled his eyes and turned back to his seat. "Bloody Jack Harkness and his bloody Torchwood."

Jack just laughed followed by Ianto several seconds later.

When they had reached the airplane runway, the door to the SUV was opened and they were led out. Ianto sighed in relief at being able to stretch his legs, which had been cramped in the back seat for the hour long drive.

"What is happening?" whispered Lyma. Ianto jumped. He hadn't noticed her. In fact, she hadn't said a word the entire car ride. She had spent the entire time staring out of the window.

"They're taking us to America," Ianto said.

"But how?" she asked. "I see no boat."

"By plane," Ianto replied, gesturing towards the plane that was indeed sitting on the runway.

"Oh," Lyma replied. "That is much different than I last remember."

"Well, it's been awhile since you last saw one. Hundreds of thousands of people fly on these airplanes every day." Ianto replied.

"Fascinating," replied Lyma, as she stared in wonder at the large, metal machine at a standstill on the runway.

"Well, it may be fascinating, lady," replied Rex, who had come up behind the two men. "But you ain't gonna get a chance to ride it. At least not today."

"What do you mean?" asked Jack, who turned around and was staring at Rex. "You're taking us to America, aren't you?"

"I've been ordered to take Torchwood to America. This Lyma here has not shown up on any files in Torchwood, and is therefore not part of it. You on the other hand-" Rex added, pointing to Ianto. "Are registered as dead, but still technically part of Torchwood. We'll figure out that whole thing in America."

Shouting suddenly drew their attention.

"No!" screamed Gwen, as she was restrained by two men. She reached her arms out to Anwen and Rhys, who were being dragged away. Well, Rhys was being dragged away while holding Anwen.

"What are you doing?" demanded Jack. "Don't you dare hurt them!" he lunged at Rex, but was restrained by yet another set of government agents.

"Relax," replied the American turning to Jack, who was struggling futilely against his captors.

"I'm not going to hurt either of them. But Rhys is no part of Torchwood and I'm sure you don't want the child in harm's way, do you? She may not be able to die, but that doesn't mean that she can't get hurt. This Miracle business is dangerous, and I won't have a kid and civilian in the mix."

"Gwen!" exclaimed Rhys as he attempted to get to her without hurting the baby.

"Just relax," ordered Jack in a loud and authoritative enough voice to make Gwen stop. "As much as I hate to admit it, Rex is right. I know that you don't want Anwen or Rhys getting hurt." Then he turned to Rex. "Please, let Ianto stay here too."

Ianto looked incredulously at Jack. "What? If you think that I'm leaving you, you are completely and utterly wrong."

"Ianto, you're still weak," argued Jack. "And we don't know how the Miracle is affecting you. You could be like me, or you could be like the rest of the world. I don't want to take a chance of you dying. I just got you back, I don't want to lose you again."

"Jack," stated Ianto firmly. "I really don't care what you want. We've been apart for long enough. I'm not letting this Miracle thing separate us."

"Come on," argued Gwen, who had been dragged to them despite her best efforts. "Stay here, Ianto, protect Rhys and Anwen, please."

Ianto looked at Gwen, shocked. "I didn't realize you wanted me gone so quickly. Maybe you shouldn't have brought me back." He turned as if to go, but didn't move. He knew that if he tried to leave he would be restrained and lose all semblance of dignity. He just didn't want Jack or Gwen to see the tears. Or Rex for that matter. He was not going to let that stupid American get any pleasure in his pain.

"Fortunately, it's not up to any of you who stays and goes," interjected Rex. "Ianto's coming with us, whether any of you like it or not. Now let's get home," he motioned to the plane. "We're running late as it is."

"Fine," Jack replied angrily. As the two agents began leading him, he shook them off. "I can walk myself, thank you very much."

"Same here," exclaimed Gwen as she followed the captain's suit and marched towards the plane. She stopped for a second and looked at Rhys, pain and sorrow clearly evident in her eyes. Rhys nodded. He saw the message. "Love you too," he softly whispered as he held their child closer.

Meanwhile, Ianto had regained his composure, and now turned to Lyma, who had stood there passively for the last several minutes and was therefore not restrained.

"Listen," he whispered urgently. "You have to protect Rhys and Anwen. I know that you were just sent here to guide me to my soul, but I am begging you, stay on Earth as long as you can. Gwen would never forgive herself if anything happened to either of them. I know you can't really do anything, but please, just be there for them."

Lyma nodded gravely. "I will do everything in my power to keep them safe. I swear on the name of the Protector."

"Thank you," he whispered, then felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey, English boy," Rex rudely interrupted. "We don't have all night. Get on the plane, or I'll have them drag you on."

Ianto looked at him contemptuously. "I'm not English, you idiot. I'm Welsh." With those words he turned and walked towards the plane, barely containing the sea of emotions that threatened to overcome him.

* * *

><p><em>Ianto's got a little sass, doesn't he? What do you think? What's Ianto's whole deal with this Miracle Day thing? Is he unkillable like the rest of the world, or is he something else? Let me know in your comments, oh faithful readers.<em>


	9. There's No Elevator Music on Planes

**Title:** You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try  
><strong>Rating:<strong> Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s):<strong> Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth and Miracle Day, some swearing  
><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> As always, DaletheChu-IantojJackh has been invaluable to me with her beta-ing skills. Thank you so much. Also, I would like to say that although this chapter is a little reliant on dialogue straight from the actual episode, it will not be like this for the entire story. As a matter of fact, I will stop doing that very soon. There obviously have to be some parts that remain the same. Ianto's resurrection wouldn't change every bit of the show, and especially on the plane. Besides, where I'm going with this scene, events have to play out nearly the same. Anyway, with that said, enjoy the chapter.  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own this. Trust me, if I did, a lot of things would not have happened.

Chapter 9-There's No Elevator Music On Planes

Ianto sat in his designated seat on the plane with his head turned away from Jack. The plane had only two seats per row, and Rex, not wanting the two men to get too comfortable, had placed the quarreling lovers in separate rows. That was fine, because Ianto wasn't in the mood to talk to Jack, let alone act "comfortable" towards him. He couldn't believe that Jack wanted him to to stay in Cardiff. Ianto was back, alive, and the first thing that Jack wanted to do was leave him. Especially in this time of crisis, with Jack being mortal and it hurt. It hurt more than Ianto would ever admit. They might never see each other again. They always held onto each other more tightly in times of great danger, heck, that's why Ianto had gone with him to Thames house. And, by the looks of it, Gwen had been in on the little plan to separate them too.

For all Ianto knew, the two of them had been sleeping together, and that's how Jack was able to immediately come to their rescue. He wouldn't put it past them, with Jack's recent loss of a lover and Gwen's husband being preoccupied by the baby anything was possible.

He sighed. There was the jealousy, rearing its ugly head once more. Ianto knew that Jack wouldn't do that. Not to Rhys. And neither would Gwen.

"Hey, Danny, is it?" Rex called to the flight attendant, a young man who was probably gay or least Ianto thought so.

The flight attendant approached the CIA agent.

"Can I get some painkillers or something? My chest is killing me." complained Rex.

Danny nodded. "I'll see what I can do, sir." he replied before turning and heading to the front of the plane.

During the few minutes the flight attendant was gone, Ianto sat in his seat, enduring the frosty silence which was not entirely his fault. Ianto could see that Jack was trying to make eye contact with him, but when that didn't work out, the captain turned his attentions to Gwen. Unfortunately for Jack, Gwen was also ignoring him. In fact, Ianto would swear that he could feel the cold rolling off of her like waves. Jack noticed it too and soon began fidgeting with his cuffs as he had nothing else to do.

"Here, sir," said the flight attendant. "Sorry, all I could find was an aspirin. It was in the copilots coat, so I gave it a little spritz to get the lint off." he handed the pill to Rex.

Rex took the pill rather unhappily, then looked at the attendant, giving him the once over.

"Look, Danny, is it?" he asked again. When he nodded, Rex continued. "I'm not gay-but I'll let you feel me up if you go get me a vodka."

The flight attendant looked surprised. "Oh, no, I'm not gay either, sir."

Yeah right, Ianto thought. You're not straight. Not with the amount of product in that hair.

"Fine," said Rex, not entirely convinced. He gestured towards the agent sitting behind him, Agent Lin. "I'll let you feel her up if you get me a vodka," he said.

"We're supposed to be on duty," Lin said, reprimanding Rex. They were the only two agents on the plane, so in her mind they needed to be sober.

"It's medicinal," argued Rex. "Besides, what are they gonna do? Kick out a window and jump 30,000 feet?"

I might if he doesn't shut up, though Ianto. Seriously, this man was starting to get on his nerves. Ianto honestly never thought that there was such a thing as a prick more annoying than Owen had been, but that Rex was certainly coming close to it.

"Trust me," continued Rex, addressing Agent Lin. "Just sit back and relax. The next six hours are going to be filled with boredom, followed by monotony." With those words, the CIA agent got up and headed towards plane's lavatory.

After Rex had left, the plane filled with an awkward silence. Ianto reluctantly looked over to see what Jack and Gwen were up to. He saw Jack shift his shoulders, a telltale sign that the ex-Time Agent was feeling very uncomfortable.

"They spent a lot of money on us," Jack said, attempting to make conversation with a stony Gwen. "Cleared out the whole plane, just for us, the prisoners. And it was all on the taxpayer's dollar, not bad."

Gwen interrupted him. "Every time." she said, still not making eye contact. "You turn up and someone gets hurt. It always goes wrong." She trailed off as a tear trickled down her face. Jack looked away uneasily and fiddled with his cuffs.

Gwen looked Ianto's way. He sighed, then attempted to give a reassuring smile. He knew that he shouldn't be mad at her, or at Jack for that matter, but being brought back from the dead and all was having effects on him mentally. He knew he would forgive them both, once the paranoia went down, but right now he would settle for forgiving Gwen, seeing as she needed him the most.

She gave him a nod and small smile in return. "How are you feeling honey?" she asked softly, as she slightly leaned into the aisle.

Ianto shrugged. "Bit parched, but I suppose that's normal, having been dead and such."

"We'll ask for some water when that attendant comes back," Gwen told Ianto.

"You know, I really fancy a pop more," chimed in Jack.

Gwen gave him a glare, still angry.

"Look, this isn't my fault," Jack argued defensively. "I had no idea Rex would pull that kind of stunt."

"But you still know how it works Jack," Gwen shot back. "Every time anybody get's close to you, nobody has a normal life again." She paused, then resumed with vehemence.

"And you know what really pisses me off, Jack? What took you so long? I had to almost get blown up before you showed up?"

"Did'ya miss me?" smirked Jack.

"Yes," replied Gwen. Jack laughed at this, but Gwen's face remained serious. "I thought you were a fairytale, Jack. I thought that I'd be an old woman and one day, you'd turn up, out of the blue, come to visit my granddaughter. I'd be ancient and you'd be exactly the same. Where did you go, Jack?"

Jack sighed. "A long way away."

"And did it help?" Gwen pushed.

At this, Jack looked at Ianto. The pain of losing him had stayed so fresh with the captain, every day that he had been without him. Or had it? Jack couldn't remember. His emotions concerning Ianto were mostly those of joy, relief and love. He was trying to block out the pain and loss, but he couldn't completely. Partially because some of it was tightly intertwined with the loss of his grandson, Steven, but also partly because he knew that he would go through it again. He didn't want to pain to completely go away because that would mean when Ianto was gone again, the grief would come back full force.

"Hey, lovebirds," Rex's voice cut into Jack's thought processes. He sat himself down in front of Gwen and Jack. "I've got a question to ask you." He held up Jack's vortex manipulator. "What the hell is this? I mean, all it does is go bleep."

"Then give it back to me," Jack said, holding out his cuffed hands.

Rex laughed. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? What does it do, anyway, measure how mortal you are?"

"Still don't believe me," Jack questioned as Rex looked at him skeptically. "The whole world can't die and I'm the one whose being ridiculous."

Gwen smiled slightly, then looked at Rex. "Tell me then, what happens to us when we get to America."

"You'll be interrogated," replied Rex, matter-of-factly.

Gwen got that look on her face, the one that she always got before she was going to give someone an earful and Ianto sighed. Rex was in for it.

"You stupid, tiny, bloody little man," she insulted. "For starters we didn't know anything, and even if we did, why didn't you just ask?"

Rex just laughed. "Look," he said defensively. "I actually think that you don't know, well, anything. I mean, come on, look at you three, you're not that bright. What you are, is connected. Someone has worked out a connection between that old institute of yours and the Miracle and now they want to kill you for it. So, we work out the connection, and then we solve it."

Ianto huffed in annoyance. He prided himself on being bright, or at least bright enough to know everything about Torchwood and then some. And Jack, well, when you're immortal you're certainly not stupid. And Jack didn't like anyone calling him stupid.

"So, has anyone done an investigation on morphic fields?" Jack jumped in after Rex.

Of course, thought Ianto. Here it comes.

"On the what theories?" asked Rex, taking the bait and allowing for Jack to continue.

"The Sheldrake theory. The passing of connective information through the process of morphic resonance."

"Theory states that a bunch of monkeys on an island learn how to use a rock as a knife and on another island, ten thousand miles away, another bunch of monkeys learn to use a rock as a knife because they're connected through a morphic field."

Rex laughed incredulously. "Now that's just science fiction."

"Except it's not," continued Jack. "It's fact. And the amazing thing about the Miracle is not that no one's dying, it's not that the human race is immortal, it's that it happened to everyone at the same time. Don't you see? It was instantaneous and that's a morphic event on a scale that I've never seen so what ever is happening to this planet, it's massive." Jack stopped in satisfaction, taking a breath. "It means your sodium is low, by the way."

Ianto smirked. Just like Jack to try and take every advantage to seem smart.

"What?" asked Rex.

"The bleeping, it means it's found low sodium levels in your blood," both Jack and Ianto spoke simultaneously.

"You need salt," added Gwen, as she smiled at what had just transpired. Jack looked to Ianto, who gave him a half smile before averting eye contact.

Rex shrugged, laughed, then made his way over to his seat, shaking his head in disbelief. He settled into his airplane seat, wincing as the movement strained his injury.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., the slightly overweight CIA analyst, Brian Friedkan thought over the meeting he just had with the technical analyst, Esther Drummond. She had come in, asking about the Torchwood case. She was a bright, blonde little thing that was eager to do her part in this Miracle event and that could be a problem, especially with her involvement with Agent Rex and the Torchwood team. He sighed as he skimmed her file. _Older sister, living. Mother, Deceased_. There was really nothing of interest. Just as he was about to click on affiliations, a message appeared on his screen reading: _JH: Investigate morphic field?_

Friedkan grimaced, then closed his file and opened a drawer, from which he pulled out a black and red flip phone. He then frantically typed a message, set the phone open at a right angle on the table and waited.

Several minutes later, the rotating triangle disappeared and up popped the simple message: Remove. Friedkan snapped the phone shut, then turned to his keyboard and typed a simple message in reply.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Jack sighed, as Ianto once again avoided eye contact. He really didn't feel like he deserved the silent treatment. He didn't deserve the cold shoulder from Gwen, either. She may have seemed cheerful just a moment ago, but Jack could tell that she was extremely tense and not the slightest bit over the fact that Jack's return and the rendition had happened so close each other. It really wasn't his fault, mostly. He didn't understand why people kept blaming him for everything that went wrong. Yes, he was the leader, and yes, it did mean he had to make hard decisions. Why couldn't Ianto see that?

Jack supposed that the whole coming back from the dead thing was doing nothing to help Ianto's temper. His body was probably all screwed up, and considering he hadn't eaten or drunk anything in the entire time he had been alive, he was probably suffering from low blood sugar. Still, Jack hoped that in time, Ianto would understand why he had wanted him to stay behind and that it had nothing to do with Gwen. When they were alone, if they ever were, he would try and explain it to him.

Meanwhile, he would try his best to protect Ianto as well as possible. There was no telling what the Miracle did to him. He could be like the rest of the world, or not. The Sheldrake theory never talked about what would happen if a monkey with no prior knowledge of the rock as a knife was placed on one of the islands. Well, that was pretty obvious. The monkey would probably learn from the other on how to use the rock. But that didn't have anything to do with a morphic field. And Jack was pretty sure that you couldn't learn how not to die from other people, no matter how hard you tried.

Behind him, Agent Lin's eyes flashed over the words "_Remove_." in the email she received, and she narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at Jack Harkness.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Ianto sighed as he settled back into his seat. The past hours really had been boredom followed by monotony. They wouldn't even let him see any of the inflight movies. As if that extra fee would even put a dent in what the CIA was probably paying in commandeering the plane. Torchwood had never done something like that. Well, they had gotten a helicopter, once. Ianto remembered when they needed to do an aerial search for a large alien that had escaped into the countryside. God, that bill had been enormous. Luckily, with Torchwood being in Her Majesty's service, paying it off hadn't required Ianto to cut anyones salary. The one entertaining moment had been when Rex had been talking to his doctor on the phone, and she had confirmed that he did in fact have low sodium levels. Now the agent sat in his seat, munching on pretzels.

For about the tenth time in that hour, Ianto smacked his parched lips together.

"Will you stop doing that!" exclaimed Rex, who was relaxed in his chair. Or as relaxed as a man with a hole in his chest could be anyway.

"I'm thirsty," replied Ianto. "Probably has something to do with the whole 'resurrected after being dead for over a year' thing," he added sarcastically.

"Yeah, sure," Rex replied. He still wasn't entirely sure about what had transpired down in that cave and was planning to find out as soon as they got to America.

"So, can I have a drink then?" asked Ianto, directing his question at the flight attendant.

Danny froze, then without making eye contact responded quickly to Ianto. "I am not allowed to talk to you."

Ianto rolled his eyes in exasperation. This time he looked directly at Rex. "Come on, a simple glass of water. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yeah," chimed in Gwen. "We've been on the move for hours, hardly had the time to eat, much less have a bloody drink."

"They can have water," Lin said, nodding to Danny, who sighed in relief at being given the orders by the agent. "I'll supervise," she said, closing her laptop and rising from her seat.

As they made their way to the kitchen area of the plane, Jack shouted. "Water? I'm American too! Can't I contribute to our global cultural hegemony with a nice, frosty cola?"

Just like Jack, always pushing his luck. Ianto really wished that he didn't have to keep up appearances by staying angry, but that's how it worked. That's how it always had worked in their relationship, and unless that was going to change anytime soon, he was planning on staying exactly the same.

TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD TORCHWOOD

Back in the plane kitchen, Danny prepared the drink while Agent Lin watched. Leaning over, the steward whispered cautiously "Are they terrorists?"

Agent Lin turned and smiled. "Go ask Rex if he wants a drink," she said, avoiding the question.

"He'll have a vodka," replied Danny in a sure voice.

"Just go and ask him," she said, slightly impatient.

Danny sighed and resignedly made his way back into the main cabin.

As he left, Lin quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a small plastic bag with a few pills inside. She took a capsule out, broke it and let the powder fall into the soda that she had prepared for Jack. Taking a straw, she stirred it as to dissolve the mysterious powder, and just as she was slipping the bag back into her pocket, she heard the footsteps of an approaching person.

"He said he's had too many painkillers," Danny shrugged.

Agent Lin smiled then handed Danny the cola and a water. She grabbed another cup and took it

to the thirsty Welshman.

As she approached Ianto, she heard a soft thanks come from Jack, who accepted the cup with cuffed hands. She quickly handed the water to Ianto, who also thanked her, then returned to her seat, hoping to see the events unfold.

She allowed a sinister half-smile as she watched Jack take his first sip.

* * *

><p><em>AN2 _Sorry it took so long. I've been a lazy, lazy writer. I'll try to stay on top of it. But since this is one of my longer chapters, it would be nice to know how I did in form of a review.


	10. Trust No One

**Title:** You Can't Run Forever, But You Can Try

**Rating:** Teen(for Jack and Ianto, well, together)  
><strong>Pairing(s)Character(s):** Jack/Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald, the rest of the Miracle Day crew  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Ianto is given a second chance, unfortunately all is not what it seems. He finds Jack, and they joyfully reunite, but will this reunion be short-lived, or something that will last forever?  
><strong>Warning(s):<strong> Slash(obviously), Spoilers for Children of Earth and Miracle Day, some swearing  
><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Sorry for the INCREDIBLY long wait. But the chapter is here now.  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own this. Trust me, if I did, a lot of things would not have happened.

Chapter 10-Trust No one

Ianto noticed right away when Jack started to look unwell. The former immortal's complexion was slowly turning ashy and a light sweat broke on his forehead.

Pain flashed across his face as Jack winced and leaned forward a little. Ianto decided that this would be a good time to start talking to him again.

"Jack?" he asked uncertainly. "Are you alright?"

The captain smiled painfully. "Just peachy. I think I may have a bit of a stomach bug though."

The Welshman looked at him disbelievingly. "Are you really going to tell me that, Jack? I'd like to say that I know you better than anyone else. And I know when you're lying. That's no ordinary stomach bug that you're feeling."

Jack laughed, then grimaced from the pain. "Can't get anything past you, can I, Ianto Jones? You always were a sharp one."

"Rex, get over here!" commanded Gwen.

The CIA agent was startled from the trance he was in. He all but leapt out of his chair, then turned to the prisoners.

"What do you want?" he rudely asked.

"The only mortal man on earth over here is feeling ill. Maybe you should see to that?" Ianto said disparagingly.

"Look, I'm no doctor, I don't know what you want me to do." replied Rex defensively, yet he still began to make his way over to the sickly captain.

"A bathroom would be nice," Jack commented weakly.

Rex rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, grabbing the captain by his arm. "Let's go."

Jack stumbled down the aisle to the bathroom.

"You know, it'd be really ironic if you were airsick, being dressed up like a flying ace and all," Rex commented as he supported the sickly man to the bathroom.

As he opened the bathroom door, Jack all but fell into the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror then groaned.

"I look like hell," he muttered. And Ianto didn't disagree. The captain's face was gray, along with his lips, and he looked a lot more than airsick. Jack voiced these concerns as he spoke.

"I don't like the timing of this," he said worriedly. "Somebody wanted to take out Torchwood, I told you."

Rex scoffed. "Look, I know the food's not too hot, but I doubt you were poisoned. People get sick, it happens."

"Maybe you're right," Jack said, short gasps coming from him. "Every bug in the world is probably after me. I haven't developed any resistance." He jerked a little, as if about to throw up. "I-I- never needed it," as he spoke, he turned to the toilet and threw up.

From his seat, Ianto could hear everything transpire. When he heard Jack throw up, he had had enough of sitting on the sidelines. He quickly jumped out of his chair and made his way to the bathroom.

"Hey, you can't be out of your seat!" exclaimed Agent Lin, as she rose to stop him. Ianto ignored her and continued to the bathroom. He would be damned if he let his lover suffer without him being there.

"Jack!" he exclaimed as he pushed past Rex. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been given every illness there ever was." groaned Jack. "Which is probably true."

"Mr. Jones, I have to ask you to get back in your seat."

Ianto turned to the female agent who had a firm grip placed on her shoulder.

"Well, I'm not going," replied Ianto firmly. "I'm not leaving Jack's side."

"Then you will have to switch with Mrs. Williams," stated Agent Lin.

"You're going to let the two gay boys sit next to each other? I really don't want to see that," Rex butted in.

Angrily, Ianto rounded on the rude CIA agent. "Right now, I really don't care what you want or don't want. Jack's clearly in a bad shape, and I refuse to leave him. You may not like our relationship, and that's your choice, but stop trying to separate us. We aren't going to flaunt it and in his condition, I doubt Jack's up to anything. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll be escorting my captain back to his seat after he finished emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl."

Rex raised his eyebrows, as if mildly impressed with the speech that Ianto had just boldly given. "Alright then," he nodded.

He turned to Jack, who was still in the bathroom. "Going to be done in there anytime soon?"

"Almost," Jack weakly replied. He retched one more time. "There," he said, standing up shakily. Ianto grabbed him by the shoulders to help him up.

"Thanks," the captain said, as he gave Ianto a sickly smile.

"Don't mention it," replied the Welshman as he guided Jack back to his seat. "You know I would do it any day."

Gwen was escorted to the seat where Ianto had been before, allowing her a good enough view of the captain.

"Have you got any medication?" she called to Danny. Although the flight attendant didn't answer, he did give a subtle nod implying that he would go check.

"Water would be good too," Ianto added, then he motioned with his head for Gwen to come closer. When she leaned in, he whispered. "Keep an eye on what's being poured. I'm not so sure that this is just an illness."

"Back to your seat," commanded Agent Lin. Gwen shot her a dirty look, but nodded to Ianto.

"I need to use the restroom," she said quickly.

Rex sighed. "You aren't going to start throwing up on us too, are you?"

"No," Gwen replied. "I really just have to use the restroom." She quickly got up and started to make her way across the plane. She made it to the restroom just in time to see the female flight attendant take out a harmless cup and pour a cup of water. Gwen ducked into the restroom, but before she closed the door, she gave Ianto a nod that the drink was indeed safe.

After Gwen emerged from the restroom a minute later and took her seat, Danny came back into the main cabin,

"I'm sorry," he said apologetically. "We didn't have time for a handover so there isn't any medication on board."

"Don't talk to the prisoners," Agent Lin recited exasperatedly.

"You gave him a drink," Gwen accused Danny. He turned to her. "What did you put in it?"

"Take it easy," Rex cautioned.

"Are you saying that I poisoned him?" Danny asked indignantly.

"He drinks, he's sick. If you did anything you better bloody tell me," Gwen replied threateningly.

"I didn't do anything!" Danny exclaimed, panicked. "She was with me the whole time," he gestured towards Agent Lin. "I didn't touch the drink, tell them!"

At those words, Ianto turned to Agent Lin. "What did you do?" he said, his voice dangerously low.

"Excuse me?" the agent protested. "What exactly are you accusing me of?"

"You know full well," replied Ianto. "Why exactly did you go up to 'supervise' Danny when he poured the drinks? Why would he need supervision? I know you slipped something in his drink." By the end he was nearly shouting.

"Ianto," rasped Jack. Ianto turned his glare to Jack, and he saw the pleading look in his eyes. His stone cold eyes gradually softened and he sat down next to Jack, grasping the captain's hands in his own as best as he good with cuffs on his wrists.

"You can't just accuse people left and right," said Agent Lin.

"Actually, he had good reason to," Gwen turned on the agent. "He's right. You didn't need to supervise anything. And it's either you or the gay steward, and I'm putting my money on you."

"I'm not gay," Danny replied testily, but no one paid attention.

"Just search, Rex, please," Gwen begged.

Rex sighed. "Oh, all right," he said, as he stood. "Give me your bag," he said, as he reached down to the seat where the small blue handbag lay

"You have got to be joking me," Agent Lin stood up in full indignation. "You can't-"

"Stay there," Rex commanded warningly as he began to search through her bag. Gwen and Ianto looked on in anticipation as the abrasive agent threw item after item out of the bag.

Finally, he came up with a bag of small pills, some blue, some white. Ianto's eyes widened.

"What did I tell you? Poison!" Gwen spoke furiously.

"Is that the first assumption you make when you find medicine in someone's handbag?" scoffed Agent Lin.

"If it's medicine, then you'll have no problem taking it," Gwen stated. Rex nodded in agreement.

"She's right," he said. "Take it." He opened the bag and offered her one of the small blue capsules.

"I'm not going to do that," said the female agent incredulously. "It's poison."

"You just said-" Rex protested.

"I said it was quite an assumption," explained Agent Lin. "I deal with a lot of agents. You never know when they might need poison."

Rex shrugged. "Well, if you didn't give him anything then there's no harm in telling us what kind of poison this is."

The agent looked at him, her face completely stoic. "That's what I thought," he said. Rex suddenly moved towards agent Lin.

"Get down-"  
>"Don't touch me!"<p>

"Stay right there!"

A short scuffle ensued as Rex grabbed a pair of cuffs and forced one onto her wrist and the other to the airplane seat. Simultaneously, both Gwen and Ianto were ripping off their hand cuffs. Gwen and Ianto both moved towards the agent, but while Gwen stopped in the aisle, Ianto forced his way past Rex after grabbing the bag of pills. Heedless of Rex's protests', Ianto crouched in front of Agent Lin.

"You may not die, but that doesn't mean you can't feel pain," he said menacingly. "Whatever this is, I know that it's destroying Jack's body, and I know that if the same poison gets into your system, you will be hollowed out."

"You can't do that!" protested Rex as he tried to pull Ianto away. The Welshman spun around and jabbed Rex, directly on his wound. Rex didn't even have time to register what happened before the blinding pain overtook him and he crashed down onto the floor.

"I'm serious," Ianto turned back to the agent. "I will do anything and everything in my power to keep that man alive, and if that means I have to torture someone with the never-ending throes of death, than so be it. You will tell me."

Gwen shuddered slightly. She knew that Ianto could get like this, but she hadn't ever really seen this side of him, not even with Lisa. She knew that Ianto would do what he said he was going to do, so that's why she was really glad when Jack spoke up.

"Ianto," he rasped.

Ianto spun around, the anger melting from his face and being replaced by tenderness. "Jack?" he asked.

"Give it," he motioned to the pills. Ianto looked at him uncomprehendingly. "The pill." Jack explained. "I might be able to tell what it is."

"I think it might be faster if I-" Ianto began.

"Give me the pill," Jack interrupted.

Ianto sighed, then relented. He flashed the cuffed agent a dirty look as he dumped the pills into Jack's hand, then turned his attention right back to the ailing captain.

Jack buckled over in pain, and Gwen knelt by the seat, grabbing his arm for support. Ianto crouched beside him and put a comforting arm around Jack.

The captain examined the first pill quickly. "Cyanide," he stated painfully, them turned to Gwen. "Are my lips blue?"

"No," Gwen answered. "Just pale."

"I'm not in cyanosis then," Jack stated, breathing laboriously. He placed the blue pill aside and picked up a white pill.

"Ok, maybe this is, I had a boyfriend who took arsenic," Jack broke open the capsule and a fine gray powder spilled out. "It's got the same consistency," Jack nodded.

"You had a boyfriend that took arsenic?" Rex asked disbelievingly.

"Slovenian. Took arsenic f-for better skin," Jack stuttered.

"That was Peter, right?" Ianto asked, smiling. He had tried to learn not to be jealous of Jack's lovers and even had asked about some stories occasionally.

Jack laughed weakly. "That's the one. He did get quite upset when he found out I didn't do anything to my own skin and it managed to look this good."

"Wait, he took aresnic? I read about that. That was back in the 1800s." Rex stated, confused.

"That's not important," Gwen waved him off. She turned to Jack. "How do you cure arsenic poisoning?"

"I don't know," Jack weakly shook his head. "I don't know how."

* * *

><p>It's a cliffhanger! Once again, I apologize for the wait. This is something that I can never get around to, no matter how much I try to focus on it. But I promise to make the updates as frequently as I can.<p> 


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